The Mosaic-Cycle Concept of Ecosystems — An Overview

The mosaic-cycle concept was developed in 1938 by Aubreville, using as an example the pristine forests of what was then French West Africa. In the succeeding years the concept was seldom referred to, with a few rare exceptions such as Richards (1981), until it was revived and expanded by Remmert (1985, 1987, 1988a,b). It seems likely that the mosaic-cycle concept is valid for most, if not all ecosystems; the resulting conclusions and predictions are therefore of the greatest importance for ecosystem research. This can best be illustrated in the case of temperate forest ecosystems.